1990-1999
The dawn of the 1990's saw Alex Ferguson collecting his
first silverware as Manchester United manager, and Liverpool winning
their last League Championship with an ageing team. The tide was
turning…
Fergie's first FA Cup, achieved after a replay against
Crystal Palace, seemed at the time to be a stand-alone success, one that
possibly saved his job after another poor season in the League. But
nine years later, it seemed that Lee Martin's winning goal against
Palace lit the fuse for an explosion of unprecedented success.
First
and foremost, winning the FA Cup in 1990 allowed United to make their
return to European competition after an absence of five years. Far from
being rusty, they went all the way to the final of the European Cup
Winners Cup in Rotterdam where their opponents were Barcelona, the
former club of United striker Mark Hughes. Two goals by Hughes sealed
the match 2-1 in Fergie's favour in May 1991, 23 years after the club's
previous triumph in Europe.
The other long wait, for that elusive
League Championship, very nearly ended in April 1992. The Reds had
already won Fergie's third trophy in March, the League Cup, and were in a
two-horse race with Leeds. Liverpool were out of the running, but they
still had a say in the destiny of the title, beating United 2-0 at
Anfield to ruin their challenge.
The 1991/92 title would be
remembered in Manchester as the title that United lost, rather than the
one that Leeds actually won. Leeds, after all, were not the greatest of
football powers in the 1990's and their star quality was further reduced
when they allowed one of their best players to join Manchester United
in December 1992.
In selling Eric Cantona to Old Trafford, the
Yorkshire club practically handed over the keys to the League
Championship. The Frenchman brought that little extra bit of magic that
had been missing from United's previous campaigns and was an instant hit
with the Mancunian faithful, scoring nine goals to help the Reds win
their first title in 26 years.
In the following season 1993/94,
the team virtually picked itself en route to an historic League and FA
Cup Double, with Cantona sporting the number seven shirt that had been
Bryan Robson’s property for so long. The number one, meanwhile, was
undoubtedly Peter Schmeichel, arguably the best goalkeeper ever seen at
Old Trafford.
Cantona’s eight-month absence from January 1995,
following his clash with a fan at Crystal Palace, proved to be United’s
undoing as they tried to defend their Double. They lost the title by one
point to Blackburn Rovers and then lost the FA Cup final by one goal to
Everton. The former champions were hampered at Wembley by an injury to
Steve Bruce, the brave captain who was a defensive rock in the early
1990’s.
Bruce also missed the following year's FA Cup Final, at
the end of the 1995/96 season, but this time the result was rather
different. Liverpool stood between United and a first-ever ‘Double Double’ and were holding out for extra-time, when
Cantona struck home a sublime shot in the 86th minute. The French
skipper had throughout the season been an inspiration to the talented
young players in the team, including David Beckham and Gary Neville.
In
May 1997, Cantona helped the club to its fourth League Championship of
the decade. It was to be his last, as he surprisingly retired from
football later that same month. The shock waves of Eric’s decision
seemed to last for a whole year, as the Reds went empty-handed in
1997/98 while Arsenal won the Double. Again, injuries to key players,
especially Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane were cited for United’s downfall.
The
influence that Giggs could have on results was never more apparent than
in the 1998/99 FA Cup semi-final replay, when he scored perhaps the
goal of the decade – a solo run and finish that left Arsenal's defenders
grasping at thin air. It booked United's place in their fifth FA Cup
final of the 1990's, and this time they won it, beating Newcastle United
2-0 with goals by Paul Scholes and substitute Teddy Sheringham.
That
result clinched United's third Double, six days after the Premiership
title had been wrapped by Andy Cole's goal against Tottenham at Old
Trafford. But still there was more to come from a remarkable campaign.
After
an epic Champions League semi-final against Juventus, when Keane
inspired the team to fight back from 2-0 down in the second leg, United
marched into an epic final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
United's
attempts to win the European Cup for the first time since 1968 looked
to be doomed when Bayern took an early lead through Mario Basler and
defended it with typical German resilience. But then, in injury time,
the Reds produced one of the most stunning revivals in sporting history –
Sheringham equalised, and moments later his fellow substitute Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer fired in the winner to make the score 2-1. United had
won the Treble; their manager Alex Ferguson was subsequently knighted as
his fans around the globe basked in the glory.
The Treble became a
quadruple later in the year when Sir Alex Ferguson's men travelled to
Tokyo to compete for the Inter-Continental Cup. Keane's goal against
Palmeiras of Brazil bestowed upon United the title of World Club
Champions. Officially, at the end of the millennium, the biggest
football club in the world had also become the best in the world
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